John Edwards Not Guilty On One Count, Mistrial On 5 Counts

Former Democratic presidential candidiate John Edwards was found not guilty on one count in his campaign finance trial on Thursday, while a mistrial was declared on five other counts against the former Democratic presidential candidate.

The Edwards trial, which spanned over a month, centered on the question of when Edwards knew about payments that wealthy donors gave to his mistress, Rielle Hunter, and whether those payments could be considered campaign donations that should have been reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Edwards was charged in June 2011 on six counts — one count of conspiracy to violate federal campaign finance laws, four counts of accepting illegal campaign contributions and one count of concealing those illegal donations from the FEC.

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - The jury deliberating in the criminal trial of former U.S. Senator John Edwards has reached a unanimous verdict on only one of the six counts against the North Carolina politician, the jury foreman said on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles said she would decide within minutes whether to order the jury to continue deliberating on the remaining counts. The two-time Democratic presidential candidate faces federal campaign finance charges stemming from his 2008 presidential bid.

25. Good one. Thanks.

8. Place your bets, place your bets...

They waited this long, they were either REALLY diligent, or there were one or two hold-outs. Methinks that Johnnie Boy is going down for the count. And that is a tragedy. Not because it was selective (some might say vindictive) prosecution of a man that has so totally destroyed his reputation for all eternity, but because his motherless children (except for the bastard of course) will have now lost their mother AND their father in a very public manner...

20. False Alarm--Jurors sent back to sequestration after returning only 1 verdict

30. Does anyone know anything about Count 3?

Was the case strong or weak on that count? Considering they have no verdict on the others, I think it could be not-guilty. Or maybe it's a guilty verdict that the jurors thought would get them out the door.

44. i know where is the sense of

46. Karma may be telling us to look inside ourselves and see what wonderful things Rummy did for us.

Like using his position with Nixon to abuse the system and continuing to get the masses to agree to whatever was done ever since. Then to teach us just how bad it can get if we refuse to accept that what he's done is part of all of us, a part that we don't want to admit.

I have difficulty with the way some people (not you or others here) apply their meanings to the laws of karma. Some sound like the desert religion and their view of punishment, but I'm guessing that one is what one is. That existence is its own reward or punishment.

I'm sure Rummy, Darth and Shrub believe they have done the right thing when they did things that caused the death of so many people. That's what's so disturbing, to be on the other side of the equation they made.

45. Meanwhile, the whole world is burning up.

Edwards' accepting money from a friend to hide from his dying wife the fact that he cheated on her is a serious matter requiring our government to spend millions trying the bad boy, but rendering our planet uninhabitable?

50. A lot of wasted taxpayer dollars over what basically amounts to being tried for adultery.

The Feds thought they could play to the emotions of the jury because the vast majority of people think Edward's actions were those of a scumbag. So they stretched the law to cover the charges, because there was no crime committed in this case, just some ambitious Fed attorneys bound and determined to "make their bones" by putting an high profile defendant in jail.